And as the meeting convened, UT Austin formally announced that Association of American Universities members had elected UT President Bill Powers to chair the association, which includes the top research universities in the United States and Canada.

Legislators, including Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, have accused Hall of being motivated by a desire to oust Powers, the university's president since 2006.

“Mr. Hall's vendetta is hurting the credibility and prestige of one of our state's best assets and his actions are harming the reputation of one of the most respected university presidents in the country,” Pitts told the House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations on Tuesday.

“I do believe there's enough evidence to show that Mr. Hall should not be allowed to continue in his current capacity as a regent,” Pitts later added.

Hall has defended his actions, saying he requested UT Austin records as a private citizen because the institution wasn't responding to his requests as a regent.

Committee members voted to subpoena several persons to testify, including Kevin Hegarty, UT Austin's chief financial officer, and Barry Burgdorf, the former UT System vice chancellor and general counsel who resigned last spring.

Powers, 67, issued a statement Tuesday calling his election to the AAU chair “a great honor and opportunity to lead the AAU at a time when higher education is confronting tremendous transformation in everything from funding to technology.”

UT System regents have called for a special telephone meeting on Friday to discuss legal issues, including those related to the matters being considered by the house transparency committee and matters related to review of the admissions process at UT Austin, according to the agenda.